In various applications there is a growing need to determine accurately the position of hot and cold spots that will appear in an infrared image.
It is not always easy to map a visual picture to a thermal image taken by an infrared camera of the same object. Interesting characteristics that appear in the visual spectrum may be invisible in the infrared spectrum and vice versa.
For example, when viewing a construction wall comprising a pipe carrying heat, as is common in municipal heating networks, an essential construction detail, that is only visible in the visual spectrum of the radiation, as well as a heat leakage which is only visible in the infrared spectrum of the radiation, could be relevant information during a maintenance assignment.
Most IR cameras are equipped with a laser pointer, but the reflected laser light is detected only in the visual spectrum of the radiation and not in the infrared spectrum of the radiation. Hence, the laser point generated on the object by the laser pointer will be visible in the visual image but not in the IR image. It is therefore desirable to determine accurately the positions of hot and cold areas shown in the IR image by detecting reflected laser light. Moreover, current laser devices operating in the infrared spectrum of the radiation have too high energy and may also be harmful to objects or people in the vicinity.